Emerald Myst

by Aliyah Burke

  “Morning,” the woman said as she approached, coffee in hand.

  “Good morning.”

  “Coffee? Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like you could use some.”

  “I’m sure I do. Yes please.”

  Flipping over the cup, she filled it to almost the top, leaving room for sugar, cream, or whatever she may want to add.

  “I’ll be back to take your order but if you decide before I come back, just yell for me. I’m Honora.”

  “Thank you.”

  Although Emmie did decide right away on the boxty with eggs, bacon, and tomatoes, she didn’t rush Honora. She fixed her coffee how she liked it and flipped open her notebook, making a list of all things she needed to do. From the kitchens needs to the floors, window coverings for up and downstairs. Hell some new windows for some. Also she had to do something about the music, she swore last night it was the same four songs that played.

  Her food arrived not long after she put in her order. She ate slow, enjoying it as she worked on the list.

  “More coffee?”

  “Yes please,” she replied with a smile, moving her cup closer to the edge. “The food was delicious. Thank you.”

  Honora topped it right off and placed the silver pot down. “Me Grams makes it all. I’ll let her know. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  “Do you know of any place in the village I could get some material?”

  Honora slid in across from her as if she didn’t work there but was a patron. She leaned forward, lacing long delicate fingers together, allowing Emmie to see the light coral paint on her nails. “Material, like for sewing? Or building?”

  “I suppose it would be for both eventually, but I was meaning for sewing or quilting.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  She was gone in the blink of an eye before she came back with two people in tow.

  The woman smiled at her and the man stared. Him she recognized from the bar. One who hadn’t seemed all that impressed with her being the new owner.

  “This is the woman who was asking about your shop, Kathleen. This is,” Honora looked at her, eyebrows up.

  “Emmie. I’m Emmie.”

  Kathleen took her hand. “Lovely to meet you, lass.” She claimed a spot on the bench of the booth across from Emmie. After a moment, she dragged the male down beside her. “This silent one beside me is my husband Ryan.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir.”

  “Lass.”

  Why are all of them asking me for my name yet calling me lass?

  He stared at her from beside his wife as Honora shoed her over and took the end seat of the booth.

  Those coral nails grabbed her attention once more as Honora waved a hand at someone else who walked in yet didn’t get up from her seat. “She’s looking for material, both for sewing and building. I immediately thought of you two.”

  Kathleen reminded her of a grandmother. Or how she’d want one to be if she’d had one.

  “What are you looking to make?”

  She licked her lower lip. “Quite a few things. I need material for curtains for upstairs, I can’t live there without a way to cover those. I would like some quilts and I think some of the chairs could be reupholstered in the bar. Building wise, I need windows and wood to replace all the holes.” A slight shrug. “To start.”

  The couple shared a look and Honora clapped her hands and gripped Emmie’s upper arm with a surprisingly strong grip. “This is great,” she said in a stage whisper.

  “Honora! I’m ready to order.”

  “Just a minute Jackson, I’m working,” Honora yelled back all without looking like she was going to be going anywhere for a while.

  The man grumbled but held his tongue.

  Three hours later, Emmie walked out of Kells, with names and addresses of places to go to and people who were willing to work with her.

  Maybe this will actually work out.

  She got headed back to the bar and hoped she’d not kept him waiting for her as she’d told him about an hour.

  The door to the building sat wide open, but he wasn’t anywhere in view. She backed into the street and stood on the yellow line as she stared at the pit she’d inherited. The double door did have to be propped open, she noticed that this morning when she’d gone to head outside. There was a second door that led to the thing not fit to be called a kitchen. She knew there was one more in the back. That’s where McSweeny had the guys take up the beds.

  It didn’t look any better in the daylight. Even though there was no rain today, it still didn’t take away from the pile of steaming shit before her.

  How is this even open? It didn’t make sense, it had to be a health hazard.

  The best thing to do would be to burn it for the insurance money. Had it been insured she may just have done that.

  A loud crash from the back had her running around the corner, to see what happened. The view before her, nearly had her tripping over her own feet.

  A spindly-appearing ladder leaned against part of the building but on the roof was Finn. Shirtless and roofing.

  And suddenly I’m aware of why women love watching men work with their hands, doing construction. Holy shit he’s hot.

  “Everything okay?” she called up to him.

  He jumped and she squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see him fall to his death.

  “Why are you looking up here with your eyes closed, lass?”

  “I don’t want to see you fall.”

  “I’m not going to fall. Everything is fine. I was beginning to think you got lost.”

  “Not lost, detained.”

  His black brows converged. “Clancy arrested you?”

  She shook her head. “As in I lost track of time. look, I know my being here isn’t what you wanted but I really don’t want to fight with you every step of the way. Could you come down when you’re done so we could talk and get a plan?”

  “Sure. Give me about ten minutes. I want to finish this roof before the rain comes back today.”

  “I’ll be inside.”

  She went back around the building and inside, closing the door behind her, only to stop and open it back up. It wasn’t like people were trying to come in and the place could use the fresh air. Shaking her head, she maintained focus on the upcoming discussion.

  Hope that shirt is on.

  A prayer that went deliciously unanswered. Finn was just there, in the doorway, the sun behind him adding to his golden tan. She whimpered and tried not to stare at the impressive physique before her. Cut muscles, defined, and lickable. So lickable.

  She swore ten minutes hadn’t passed yet for she didn’t feel at all prepared to talk to him. Especially with that shirt not helping to keep her distracted from what lay beneath it. Hard for the shirt to do that when it’s not even in sight.

  He moved around the bar and grabbed a glass of ice water. Once he drained that one and had it filled a second time, he pivoted back to her, removing that muscled back from her line of sight. However, now she could follow that little happy trail to the top of his jeans and if she lowered her gaze any further, she would…

  Squeezing her legs together, she took a stool and put her notebook on the top between them.

  “While I was eating I was doing some thinking about this place and what we can do to fix it up.”

  Finn moved closer and rested his forearms on the bar top, near enough she could see the beads of sweat moving down his temple, that she could see the shine on his skin, proof of his earlier hard work. His eyes were darker than she remembered them being last night and this morning before she left.

  If working on the roof makes him sweat and his eyes go darker, what does sex do to him?

  His bow shaped lips kicked up into a seductive smile.

  She tried to frown. “What?”

  “What is your name?”

  “You don’t know who I am?”

  “From the paper I do, but I don’t know what you like to be calle
d.”

  She gulped. It didn’t make sense that such a bland statement from the look of it could create such havoc within her. “People call me Emmie.”

  “And is that what you like to be called? Emmie?”

  “Better than some of the names I’ve been called.” She exhaled slowly.

  “Okay then, Emmie. In answer to your question, I don’t know what color my eyes are after sex but if you really want to find out, we have beds upstairs. Or if you’re not wanting to wait, we have a bar top right here.”

  Her pussy clenched with need. Instead of backing down she smiled and reached for his glass. Plucking out an ice cube, she slowly sucked it into her mouth, loving that his gaze deepened further still.

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the ice cube.”

  He gripped her chin and she nearly came from his touch as he swiped his thumb along her lower lip.

  “Welcome.”

  “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

  It took so much for her not to jump and smack his hand away at the new voice intruding into her own bubble.

  “Not at all Ryan. Come on in. What can we do for you? Emmie and I were just talking about the plans for this place.” He put his hand down and smiled at the man over her shoulder. As if it were completely natural for him to be touching her in such a personal way.

  She crunched the ice cube and turned slowly to see Ryan waiting there with a dolly of three boxes. Wiping her hands off on her pants, she got off the stool and moved to Ryan’s side, with a smile.

  “Boxes of material from Kathleen.”

  Her fingers itched to open them and pour through the goodies there. “Thank you, you can just put them by the bar. How much do I owe for them?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing. Kathleen said you two would come up with a different payment plan.” He grinned showing her a crooked smile even while it softened his appearance all the way around. “I should pay you for getting these boxes out of the house. She’d not opened them in years. I have three more. I’ll be back.”

  He put the boxes where she said and left for the rest of them.

  “What’s all this for?”

  “Ms. Kathleen is giving me material for sewing. I need to make some coverings for upstairs if I am going to be living there. I don’t want to strip in front of bare windows.”

  She wasn’t positive, but she swore he said he’d prefer that as well. Despite her objections, the men carried all six boxes upstairs for her. When they finished, they’d discussed materials for parts of the building. They would go to a masonry for the main, but Ryan would supply them with wood for new doors, window frames, and more.

  While she and Finn didn’t get to discuss her plans by the time she headed up to the room, she still had some positive vibes about how this was working out. Picking up the statue, she brushed a kiss to his head.

  “Thank you for the luck,” she whispered.

  “Tonight, you will shadow me and we’ll get you up to speed on how to serve drinks in a bar. Unless that’s a skill you have that I don’t know about.”

  Putting the figurine down on the small dresser McSweeny and his men had carried up for her, she touched it gently with her fingertips then faced him.

  “Not a skill I have.” She opened each box and lined them up near the bed so she could reach them from there. “I’d also like a run-through of how you do inventory and where you order from.”

  “I’ll show you whatever you want.”

  She refused to look up at him, fairly certain it would end with her kissing him or at least trying to do that. Which may be rebuked then she would be embarrassed beyond belief.

  “Thank you.”

  “How did you get Ryan to such a good price for the wood?”

  That question got her head to pop up. “I don’t know, we were just talking at Kells. Him, Kathleen, and Honora.” She pulled out some blue material and held it up trying to envision it on the windows up here. “A few others stopped by as well.”

  He grunted and she wasn’t sure what to make of that. An impressed grunt? A frustrated one?

  “Come on,” he said, beckoning to her. “Let’s get your run-through done so we can get ready to open.”

  She trailed him to the door where he had her go first. Probably better this way, otherwise I would have tripped over my own feet and fallen into him.

  At the bottom, he took the lead and guided her through the kitchen she still wanted to burn and to the back room which, despite the state of the kitchen, was immaculate as it was stacked with crates, and barrels. There were boxes as well.

  “I didn’t expect this.”

  “I gathered that from your expression. It’s important to me to get this right and I can admit I’ve not done the best job, I do take care.”

  “I’m not implying you don’t. Merely that I am shocked, pleasantly so, by the organization in this room. You could just say thank you and we could move on to the ordering process and telling me all what is back here.”

  He held her gaze for a moment. “Thank you.”

  While he’d put a shirt on when they were upstairs, it in no way took from his attractiveness. She doubted a potato sack would.

  She turned her attention to the daunting task that lay ahead of her. Emmie hoped she could pull this off and not mess it all up for everyone there. She hated to fail and this would be no different.

  Finn didn’t rush her, took his time explaining his system to her. She was inordinately pleased when he never appeared put out by all her questions. They were just about to open when the two of them left the backroom and made their way to the bar.

  “Have you ever payed attention to people’s drinks? How the beer looks when it comes from the tap or poured into a glass from the bottle?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not a big drinker, so I’ve never really cared one way or the other.” Emmie rocked back on her heels. “Maybe I should just stick to taking money from everyone. “I know you lot are picky on your drinks.”

  His dark brows skyrocketed up. “My lot?”

  Was she delusional to think that he was offended by those two words? Perhaps she was. It wasn’t easy to think rationally or clearly around this man.

  “People who drink. I don’t know the difference between a merlot and a cabernet sauvignon and couldn’t tell you what a good brand was.”

  His lips twitched. “First off, most people who come in here won’t be looking for a wine of any kind. We serve much more hard liquor and beer than wine.”

  “What’s the difference between scotch and whisky? I don’t even know that and I’m certain that’s bound to be important.”

  “Trust me, lass. That is something very important. Especially to an Irishman.”

  “So I’m the person behind the bar who keeps their fingers out of it and doesn’t piss off the local clientele.”

  Finn’s smile was so sexy it hurt. The way his eyes crinkled up at the corners, made her want to just cup his face in her hands and plant one on him. Tug him with her back to the bar and have him lay her on it, just to have his way with her. Or hell, her having her way with him. Either would work in her mind.

  “Not a chance. This is your business. You will learn how to run it.”

  That’s what she was afraid of.

  Chapter 4

  “Watch the head lass.”

  She swallowed and curled her fingers around the glass tighter to make sure it didn’t slip free from her grasp. Damn man could make reading a fucking dictionary sound erotic. And it didn’t help that right now he was talking about head. Sure, it was nothing more than on the Guinness she was pouring but all she could think about was giving him head.

  Sinking to her hands and bracing her hands on those rock hard thighs of his. She gulped and locked her knees.

  “Something you say to all your women?”

  Even as the inappropriate question slid from her lips, she cut her gaze to where he sat on the bar beside her, watching and supervising. Mistake. Her entire body
was surrounded by his deep, masculine scent. And now she had a visual to accompany that. She needed to be focusing on the stout she poured.

  It was storming outside and the door wasn’t open as it usually was but he wasn’t up on the roof making more repairs.

  He leaned closer, his warm breath skimming along her ear. A new erogenous zone for her. “I didn’t know I had women. Pretty sure the one I want knows the best way to treat head.”

  Her eyes nearly rolled back into her head. before she could respond, the bar door opened and two younger men strode in, shaking off the excess water. She thought he would move back from her but he didn’t.

  “Can I help you gentleman? We’re not quite open yet.”

  She didn’t recognize them from the village but she didn’t know everyone, so perhaps he knew them. Most had stopped by to get a look at Emerald Myst’s new American owner, though. The new black owner.

  The taller of the two, slicked his wet hair back and walked toward them both. “Sorry, we are just trying to set up some venues for our band. And wanted to see if you allowed people to perform. We’re not looking for money, right now we are just trying to get our name out there. I’m Calum.”

  Canting her head to the side, she finished the drink and handed it over to Finn.

  “Perfect head.”

  Their fingers touched as he accepted the glass and her gut clenched.

  “Of that I have no doubt.”

  Her pussy grew slick and she tore her gaze from his, relegating him to the back. Right now she couldn’t focus on this man, not with the way all she could think about was showing him just how right he would be about that. And if she wasn’t perfect, she had not a single problem working on it until she hit that status.

  “Do you have a demo that I could listen to?”

  He glanced to her. “You’re the owner?”

  Guess they hadn’t heard of her. “I am. My question is still the same. Do you have a demo I could listen to?”

  “Rory, bring it up.”

  The thinner man walked toward her, his dark eyes not meeting hers. He held out a CD and she took it with a nod of thanks. Black Raven was written on it in deep purple marker.